This invention relates in general to lever-operated electrical connector assemblies of the type used in automotive wiring harnesses, and more specifically to a releasable lock mechanism for such levers.
Motor vehicle wire harnesses for distributing electrical power to various vehicle components must be electrically mated. The wires in these harnesses are generally attached to pin or socket terminals secured in a connector. The connector must be mated to another connector such that the terminals are electrically engaged. For example, a female connector containing female socket terminals is typically mated with a male or plug connector containing male pin terminals. The more terminals to be mated, the higher the force needed to push the connectors together.
In order to reduce the connector insertion force, a force-reducing lever is often mounted on one of the connectors, typically the female connector, to engage the other (typically male) connector upon its initial insertion and thereafter to apply leverage on the male connector to draw it into full connection. In a typical lever arrangement, cam slots in the upright lever receive posts on the mating connector just prior to terminal contact. When the lever is pivoted downwardly, the cam action between the lever slots and the posts draws the connectors together and inserts the male terminals into the female terminals to complete their electrical engagement. A bridge portion of the lever frequently includes a latch cooperating with a latch receiver on the connector body to lock the lever and both connectors in the electrically engaged position. An example of such a connector assembly is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 5,401,179.
Unless the lever is held in an open, ready-to-receive position, the lever can interfere with the initial engagement of the connectors. If the lever is not aligned properly, the posts on the mating connector will not enter the cam slots on the lever without further adjustment by the assembler.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,135,410, side arms of a lever on a socket connector are provided with engagement projections that cooperate with stops on the connector walls to hold the lever in a release position. Preliminary insertion of a plug connector expands the side arms of the lever outwardly, disengaging the cooperating projections and allowing the lever to be pivoted from the release position to a locked position wherein the terminals of each connector are electrically engaged. This type of lock requires projections on both connectors and elasticity of the entire side arms of the lever. A special design of the socket connector housing, with inner and outer walls, is needed along with a pushing force able to expand the side arms of the lever.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,709,560 discloses the use of projections on each leg of a lever for engagement with holes in a hood portion of a female connector housing to hold the lever in a fitting-starting or pre-set position. An engagement release piece portion on a male connector housing forces the projections out of the engagement holes when the male connector housing is slightly fitted in the female connector housing. This assembly requires precisely cooperating projections on the male connector housing and lever and properly positioned holes in the female connector housing.
The present invention is a lever-mounted lock for securing the lever in a preset position on a connector, preventing the lever from interfering with a mating connector during initial engagement of the connectors.
The lever-mounted lock mechanism features a universal release mechanism designed to be automatically engaged by the mating connector upon initial engagement of the connectors regardless of whether the connectors are precisely aligned. The lever-mounted lock mechanism alone responds to mating connector insertion for release; the lever as a whole is unaffected, and simply receives the mating connector posts in its cam slots.
In carrying out this invention in the illustrative embodiment thereof, a first connector has a lever for electrically connecting a second connector with the first connector. The lever has sides with slots for receiving posts on the second connector. Inner sidewalls of the lever contain independently flexible arms for securing the lever in a pre-set or open position in which the lever and its cam slots remain properly set for initial engagement with the mating connector. The lock arms are preferably contained within the plane of lever sidewalls and each comprises a deflectable, L-shaped cutout integral with and cantilevered from the lever sidewall. The free end of the arm has a stop engaging the first connector to lock it in a pre-set position.
The free end of the lock arm also includes a leading dimple or release projection located forwardly of the pre-set stop relative to the mating connector in the pre-set position. When the mating connector is moved into initial engagement with the lever connector, the mating connector contacts the dimple even if misaligned and the lock arm and its pre-set stop are deflected away from the first connector. The lever is therefore released as the posts on the second connector enter the lever cam slots. The lever is then manually pivoted to draw the connectors into complete electrical engagement without interference from the lever locking structure.